Q: Does Medicare cover long-term care costs?

Atkinson Lynn

Atkinson_Lynn

A: Long-term care is a range of services and support for your personal care needs. Most long-term care isn’t medical care, but rather help with basic personal tasks of everyday life, sometimes called activities of daily living, such as bathing and dressing.

Medicare doesn’t cover long-term care (also called custodial care), if that’s the only care you need. Most nursing home care is custodial care.

Medicare does cover:

Care in a long-term care hospital

Skilled nursing care in a skilled nursing facility-where you are receiving rehabilitation services. Your progress and improvement is measured and you are expected to return home. Medicare limits this care to 100% coverage for days 1-20 and a cost sharing copayment from day 21-100.